I have an 11.5 hour stop in Tokyo HND. 5:30am - 5 pm.
The last recommendations on this forum is from years ago.
What's the latest with the two Chabads? Do any have a sit down restaurant or only take-out?
From the forum I have the following: Akihabara, Asakusa, Harajuku.
Anyone have anything to add?
DW can't stand the smell of fish, so no fish market.
I was thinking going from airport to one of the Chabads to daven (without minyan) and have something to eat. What's the earliest I can go to either?
I figure I have until 1-2pm to head back to airport and take a shower.
Are the trains still preferred over Uber?
Any suggestions?
Can anyone please suggest an itinerary?
Figured I'd post a few notes from my trip...
Arrived very early in the morning in HND and didn't really find any quiet place to daven. Since it was early and had time to kill, I figured I'd store my carryon in the airport ($4 for the day) and took a taxi to Chabad (Chana's place).
I only took taxis and didn't use the trains, I was lazy. Downloaded an app that came up by google maps - taxis and it worked great.
On the way to Chabad I realized that my neither of our phones had service (T-Mobile). Spent too much time on the phone (wifi calling) with them and they didn't help at all. e-sim Airalo was the savior of the day.
Chana was closed and nobody was around (Shul was unlocked) so we left.
Shibuya was not impressive to us. Very similar to Kikar Shabbos. Wasn't that busy when we were there.
Akihabara - I probably missed what everyone talks about. We saw thousands of the arcade games with claws (if you grab the prize you get it) and department stores full or figurines and stuff from many many arcade games. But we didn't see the games themselves. Maybe someone can post a better location for others.
Asakusa & Yasakuni Shrine - Was very interesting to us. Lots of souvenir stores and different food stalls. The architecture in the area was old Japanese style and interesting. I think it was a holiday and there were a lot of girls/women in traditional dresses (kimonos?).
One of the taxi rides was long and we asked the driver to show us the sights. Took us past the palace grounds, skytree, tokyo tower, main train station and some other sites. Very worthwhile
Most don't speak english. Used Google translate.
Went back to Chana's Place for lunch. Food was very good. They didn't have anything chicken related. we had a burger / fries / chumus/felafel platter.
Went back to HND and relaxed/showered in ANA lounge.
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